Celebrating life at Barchester

In July, we held a coffee morning and fundraiser for Harleys Hounds, a local animal rescue charity. Residents, families and staff gathered in Reception and enjoyed a delicious home-baked treat and a hot drink.  

We had the pleasure of being joined by a couple of their volunteers, who spoke about the animals that they have rescued and the work that they do to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome animals. The volunteers even brought some special guests with them; 2 adorable felines, an adorable kitten named Baboo and a lovely cat named Freya. The residents loved meeting both cats and enjoyed spending time with them and having plenty of cuddles.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our residents, families and staff, we raised an amazing £135 for this wonderful charity. We also collected a huge amount of donations, including pet food, treats, toys, bedding and other essential supplies, all of which were gratefully received by the volunteers.    

Did you know that Salisbury Cathedral sits on gravel and waterlogged meadow ground? Residents at Wilton Place learnt about this and lots of other interesting facts on a recent visit to this amazing building.      

The return yesterday of some of our strangest, yet most popular visitors as we welcomed back JJ's reptiles exotic encounters to Hunters. Jordan and Tyrese were on hand to introduce us to an amazing range of incredible creatures including stick insects, Zeus the corn snake, Lilo the royal python and Steven the scorpion. Not to mention getting reacquainted with "Big" Barry, the 12-foot Burmese python.

It is always fascinating to see our residents become absolutely fearless, and they get up close and personal with these wonderful reptiles.

Thanks as always to Jordan and Tyrese for a brilliant afternoon.

We had such a fantastic day out at Brooklands Museum, where history and motoring came together! We were especially excited to enjoy the vintage car show, with a vary of amazing classic cars on display.

A great session yesterday as we were joined by the brilliant Cheryl from Specsavers, who gave us some help and advice on eye health. Cheryl was fantastic and spoke about the different afflictions that can affect our eyes, what can be done to help, as well as discussing the current individual eye care needs of our residents and staff.

Residents had the chance to ask questions and even got to go away with a goody bag at the end. 

Another wonderful musical afternoon as we were joined by the brilliant Philip Heyman playing his viola.

Philip was fantastic as ever, performing a mixture of classical, pop and opera songs that got us all tapping our feet and singing along.

Thank you, Philip, we will see you again soon.  

Ruby is a beautiful 9 year old Red Setter, that visits us on a weekly basis with her Mum Jackie. Ruby has been a part of the Ross Court family for years and visits so often, that she recognises all of her favourite faces around the home. She's loved by so many of us, and we all look forward to seeing her every week. 
Thankyou Ruby! (and Jackie of course ) 

We are hosting our Annual Dog Show this Saturday, and we are sure that Ruby could be in the running for an Award or 2...

Come along this Saturday from 2:30pm, bring your dogs, and the family for a day full of fun.
 

One of our favourite games here at Hunters is Hoy! Matching playing cards in a bingo-style way with the chance to win yummy prizes. 

It’s even better when we get the chance to play outside in the fresh air and sunshine with our friends and family.

Just the right amount of friendly rivalry, laughter and fun, as the tension builds, and we all await the next winner!

What better way to enjoy a beautiful summer's evening with friends out in the garden, fantastic piano music from Piano Hedgehog and relaxing with a delicious glass of Pimms! It was truly a wonderful time and Rob had us all singing along as usual to our favourite songs from throughout the years.

A great opportunity to try something different at a later time of day and, as usual, the smiles tell the story.